The armchair theologian shares some thoughts that touch upon the real issues of life. I hope you are blessed!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

PROGRESSIVE THINKING IN REVERSE

Contrary to the
way many people would have it, the Bible does not hesitate to pass judgment on
human conduct. Over and over again in the pages of Holy Scripture we read about
God’s anger, wrath, and fury being poured out upon sinners. Consider for a
moment the catastrophic judgment of a worldwide flood in the days of Noah
because “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually” (Genesis 6:5). Therefore,
God destroyed the inhabitants of the earth, sparing only the righteous Noah and
his family (Genesis 7).Sounds horrific,
and it was.And yes, there really is
evidence of a global flood. How else does one explain the presence of marine
fossils in strata across the continents, unless the continents were once
covered by water (even the highest mountains of the world)? If you have ever been to the Grand Canyon, you
have seen with your own eyes exactly what a catastrophic judgment by water can
do.There we find the remains of sea
creatures more than a mile above sea level, and two-foot long
nautiloids in the Redwall Limestone. Further on in the book of Genesis
is a statement about the inhabitants of ancient Sodom: “But the men of Sodom
were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly" (Genesis
13:13). This sounds quite like God’s assessment of the people of the earth in
Noah’s day:Evil continually (Noah’s day),and sinnersexceedingly (in Sodom). And
guess what happened to the inhabitants of Sodom and the cities of the plain?God rained brimstone and fire upon them from
heaven and they became the cities of ash (Genesis 18 and 19). Granted, to speak
of such judgments by water and by fire doesn’t go over very well in a culture of people who want to have
everything “their way.”But just like
the evidence for a global flood, evidence for the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah has been found. I would refer the reader to the articles on this
subject at the Associates for Biblical Research website.

Reflecting
on God's judgment upon the sinners of Sodom, I couldn’t help but think about
America’s moral decay.As a nation
before God, we are sinners exceedingly. Recently I was reminded of just how badly
the moral foundation of America has been shattered. Vice President Joseph
Biden, while campaigning for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, characterized
his opponent Ken Cuccinelli as "a relic from another era."What did Biden mean? “A relic from another era”! In part, he meant
that Cuccinelli is not a progressive social liberal who supports such things as
a woman’s right to kill her unborn child via abortion. Cuccinelli also opposes
the gay rights agenda, the opposition of which, according to Biden, is out of
step with a new way of thinking.In Biden’s
own words, "Everything they (Cuccinelli’s supporters) talk about without
exaggeration is about turning back what the rest of the country and the world
thinks is progress." Biden said, "It's hard to fathom this state
being led by a man who rejects all that this new thinking stands for.”Putting politics aside, I find honest Joe’s
comments compelling evidence that America is not Slouching Toward Gomorrah, the title of Robert Bork’s 1996 New York
Times Bestseller. America is like unto Gomorrah. Biden’s new way of thinking,
which progressives embrace, is progress in moral reverse. And Biden made his
comments in his typical arrogant tone. He seems to be quite proud of his
progressive vision for the future of the United States. But I know that God
doesn’t agree with Biden’s new way of thinking, which the world calls progress.
In Noah’s day, the preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), the just man Noah, was
the only one who didn’t jump on board with the crowd that was bent on doing
evil.Rather, he took his family and got
on board an ark which God had him prepare, so that they could be saved from the
judgment He was going to bring upon the whole earth. And Lot’s family was
escorted “out of Sodom” so they could escape a fiery end.Only his foolish wife looked back and
perished: “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah
brimstone and fire from the Lord
out of heaven; and he
overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the
cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife
looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis
19:24-26). Peter comments on the
destruction of Sodom with a stern warning about what God did: “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an
overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly”
(2 Peter 2:6).

If the vice
president’s vision for America is progress, count me out.I won’t travel this road of progress because
I know where it ends.God has made it
plain: "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people"
(Proverbs 14:34 NKJV). And sin is not something that an Almighty God winks at.
He is not a social liberal, nor a right-wing conservative.He is the thrice-holy God that Isaiah the
prophet had a glimpse of in Isaiah 6, which made him declare, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine
eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
hosts" (Isaiah 6:5).Here is another
word of truth found in the book of Isaiah-- I pray that all the “new way of
thinking” advocates take it to heart: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good
evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness"(Isaiah 5:20).

Welcome

I hope you enjoy your short visit with us. My hope and prayer is that you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. He died on Calvary's cross to pay the sin debt that you could never pay. Salvation is a free gift that God offers you (Ephesians 2:8,9). If you call upon the Lord Jesus (Romans 10:9), you can be absolutely certain that God has granted you the gift of eternal life (I John 5:13). I pray that someday, I will see you in heaven. May God bless you with His saving grace!